In patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and controls, the sensitivity of canine scent detection of breath samples compared with conventional diagnosis by colonoscopy was 0.91 and the specificity was 0.99.The sensitivity of canine scent detection of watery stool samples was 0.97 and the specificity was 0.99.
The accuracy of canine scent detection was high even for early cancer. Canine scent detection was not confounded by current smoking, benign colorectal disease or inflammatory disease.As simple as that: exhaling 100-200 ml into a breath sampling bag and storing it in a Ziploc bag at 4°C until a trained dog has a change to sniff it can be enough for diagnostics. Just one breath sample! And it was almost as good as a watery stool sample obtained during colonoscopy or this joyous examination itself.
There have been many research studies that dogs, rats and even moth can detect scents pertaining to human disease. Ordinary household dogs can be trained to distinguish breath odors (McCulloch et al 2006). For some cancers, sensitivity can be as high as 100% (Horvath et al 2008).
Unfortunately, sophisticated mass-spectrometry, gas chromatography and software tools interpreting the signals are still not as good as our four-legged friends that are never getting lost in the noise of disease-unrelated flavors.
But we are getting better in identifying specific chemicals responsible for various conditions - from alkanes - such as pentane in breath of IBD patients and polystyrene foam or aromatic components of petroleum in cancer breath to blends of fatty acids like oleic and linoleic acids forming the smell of death.
Perhaps pet rats will find their use as pocket doctors before men-made sensors are developed to cope with infections, medical conditions, even fear and anxiety that also have a distinctive odor signature. In any case, Dr. Sonoda and his colleagues bring us a reassuring word that not every frequent visitor to the GI doctor's office will have to experience the joys of a colonoscopy.
Sonoda H, Kohnoe S, Yamazato T, Satoh Y, Morizono G, Shikata K, Morita M, Watanabe A, Morita M, Kakeji Y, Inoue F, & Maehara Y (2011). Colorectal cancer screening with odour material by canine scent detection. Gut PMID: 21282130
Other published literature on olfactory signatures in gastrointestinal disease:
Cheu HW, Brown DR, Rowe MI (1989) Breath hydrogen excretion as a screening test for the early diagnosis of necrotizing enterocolitis. Am J Dis Child 1989;143:156–9.
Pelli MA, Trovarelli G,, Capodicasa E, Breath alkanes determination in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Dis Colon Rectum 1999;42:71–6.
Pelton NS, Tivey DR, Howarth GS, A novel breath test for the non-invasive assessment of small intestinal mucosal injury following methotrexate administration in the rat. Scand J Gastroenterol 2004;9:1015–16.
Tibble JA, Sigthorsson G, Foster R, Use of surrogate markers of inflammation and Rome criteria to distinguish organic from nonorganic intestinal disease. Gastroenterology 2002;123:450–60.
